OK. Main gripe so far is the location of the stalk with the media controls. It is a typical Renault design stretching back to the late 1980s. It works OK, but is completely invisible to the driver as it is masked by the steering wheel spokes. Even looking over or under the wheel whilst driving does not work.

The other bizarre thing is the location of the cruise control/speed limited master switch. It is down below the gear lever, whereas you would have expected it to be on the steering wheel on on the dashboard somewhere visible. Having said that, once you know where it is, you can feel for it easily and a quick glance down makes it obvious.

I am about to try a SatNav software update which I have read about on the Captur owners club website. We shall see if it works.

Otherwise 14 unremarkable miles today. The ECO button is pressed but does not seem to have much effect on performance, but maybe it will as the engines breaks in.

Ho ho ho! I need to come down to Cheshire shortly.....I could break down and run into the back of the Merc :-0

Updating the SatNav software was a fiddle but eventually I got it done. Seven digit postcodes are available but in a rather odd way of finding them. Just realied the car also has auto wipers and lights, the LED DRLs turn off when the headlights are on (a good thing) and the Bluetooth also works for MP3 files, so music plays very easily from my phone without any fiddly cables in the cabin.

All in all, I am impressed so far. The level of spec for the price is very good and the basic design is good also. I can see my father fancying a change from his Sirion. A few minor niggles but Renault would do so much better with a better dealer network rather than salesmen wearing white towelling socks who last week sold double glazing....

If you sat in both you would understand. The whole design of the Captur is more modern and efficient. The Dacia is a Renault from over ten years ago fitted with the minimum of equipment to comply with current regulations.

It might be okay for a taxi driver or long term owner on a budget, but as a professional business owner I could not drive around in one without serious loss of gravitas.

I too have suffered impact of faulty electronics - in a Nissan at the time when they were worked very closely with Renault - epecially the Laguna.

I saw a Rapture this morning, 15 plate, overtook it on my morning commute. Looks good from the outside, would love to read 3 years down the road from now that the dodgy electrics problems have been resolved (Nissan input?), until then it's a gamble.

What is not a gamble is an opening sunroof. With the exception of a short period when I drove my late grandfather's Saab 99 I've had an opening sunroof all my driving life (nearly 40 years) and would not want to be without - been open for the past few days enjoying the lovely weather we have had in Kent. Luckily I've found that Webasto supply aftermarket sunroofs to fit most cars.

First longish trip today. About 66 miles round trip up into the hills about Blackburn. Interesting that around Manchester the ECO setting is barely noticeable, but going upt he hills, the extra tourqe available when you come out of ECO is noticeable. Trying to give the car a good work out in all gears, getting up to 3,500 revs and even higher on the over run so its not stressing the engine. Average economy a slightly disappointing 37mpg, but as has been said on here many times, these small turbocharged engines need a bit of welly to get going. The car has only done about 120 miles in total so far too early to get a real handle on economy but I would like to think I can get an average of 40mpg out of it when run in.

My wife drove it for the first time today and considered it a very satisfactory replacement for her previous Mercedes A-class - what a mistake Mercedes made replacing it with boring hatchback with no rear room - with a better driving position and similar performance.

Is that right the Captur was initially built by Samsung in Korea ? On behalf of Renault?

No, Samsung (the cars part) is owned by Renault:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Samsung_Motors

I am enjoying it. Once I realised to ignore the ECO button, the car has excellent real world performance, bearing in mind it has a very small petrol turbo engine, sometimes it needs to be on boost but low down torque is pretty good. Economy is picking up; after three tanks of mixed driving it is averaging about 39mpg (calculated, not trip computer), and today with four adults, a dog and a load of walking and picnic stuff, it cruised at 75mph giving about 40mpg.

It's not perfect, but its a damn good effort and far more practical than the similarly sized Juke. I like the keyless entry/locking which works very well, the sliding rear bench and driving position. Less ideal is the quality of the plastics, poor graphics on the dashboard, and some awkwardly positioned switches. Some visibility is poor, not at the rear, but front where the pillars are very thick and some things can be missed if you are not careful. However many cars share this problem.

Overall I'm happy and although it was bought as a temporary car for me prior to it going to a member of staff, I can see myself keeping it.

Edited by Happy Blue! on 04/05/2015 at 00:38

I've just had 9 days/550 miles in a brand new Clio estate with the same engine. Certainly quite a throaty noise it makes!

Agree about the hidden media controls behind the steering wheel. Also took me a few days to spot the computer display buttons on one of the stalks.

Had some trouble with the heater controls, i.e. seeing what position the air flow knob was in from the driving seat. And air throughput seemed pathetic - I kept having to crank it up to max in order to feel any air coming through the vents.

Metallic red paintwork looked of very high quality, no issues there.

Trip computer showed 45.5mpg when I handed the car back. Most journeys were about 10 miles long, with lots of suburban traffic lights and a few short motorway bursts, so I guess this is reasonable. Stop/Start system worked seamlessly.

Satnav and media connectivity were spot-on and easy to master.

Don't think I'd spend my own money on one of these cars - and I think the Ford 1.0 ecoboost engine does a better job - but no complaints as hire cars go.

This sting in the tale of some otherwise economical small cars seems to be more noticeable in smaller dumpier shapes.

SWMBO had a Citroen C2 VTS HDi for a couple of years, that was the 1.6 110hp version of the Diesel of Doom, though running slightly more than 110- cough, it was very fast especially in its effortless torque band from 1500 up to 3000 rpm, no point in revving it any higher.

Normal running about kept to 70mph absolute max would see 60 mpg regularly, but increase that to 80 or beyond could see that economy plummet sharply to not much over 40mpg.

Owners of the same engine in other forums in much heavier models claim to get mid 50s to 60mpg more or less constantly, how much of this was down to believing the OBC i don't know, maybe the larger cars being sleeker cut through the air better, maybe it was the addictive surge of the engine in that very light C2 encouraged heavier throttle use than the heavier cars which must have been plodders in comparison, SWMBO doesn't exactly cause rolling road blocks.

I wonder if the combination of small dumpier shape causing excessive wind drag plus those wide tyres are contributing to the lower economy of HB's Catpaw as speed rises.

Edited by gordonbennet on 21/06/2015 at 23:05

Passed 4,000 miles yesterday. I was on a long trip (Manchester to Alloa return in one day). I have done this trip about once every two years for the last decade in four different cars with the best being the Outback and the S-Max. The Captur was pretty good. I would complain that the Bluetooth is too quiet at motorway speeds and as mentioned before the both spec economy is average; I got about 41mpg cruising at 75mph.

A few interesting points. The car clearly prefers higher octane fuel. It is much perkier using 98RON than normal unleaded and more economical but whether this makes financial sense I have not determined. The basic build quality of the car remains unexpectedly high. The paint is deep and I am constantly surprised by the surprise and delight features. I noticed last night it has hill hold on the foot brake for two seconds.

I remain confident about the long term health of the car despite being a Renault! However i do see some other cars i fancy once this has been passed on - Jeep Renegade?? It's a Fiat 500L underneath i think in a boxy body. I could be tempted. .....

Edited by Happy Blue! on 05/08/2015 at 08:29

Actually the bulk of the trip was on Asda unleaded rather than 98 RON, but i think a small engine in a largeish car means poor economy at high speed. I cannot imagine more than 1mpg better using 'better' fuel.

Conversely my usual suburban driving gets me about 41mpg as well and more sensible motorway or steady speed running achieves closer to 45+mpg. I have come to love motorway road works. A steady 50mph = 50mpg!